 |
Semen KunicaFighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union
Date of Birth: 16.03.1914
Country:  Ukraine |
Content:
Early Life and Education
Semen Andreevich Kunitsa was born on March 16, 1914, in the village of Velykyy Khutir in Ukraine. The son of a peasant, he completed seven years of schooling and worked as a stableman and shepherd in the "Chervonyy Orač" agricultural commune. After graduating from the pedagogical technical college in Zolotonosha in 1934, he became the head of the pioneer department of the raikom of the Komsomol (Young Communist League of the Soviet Union).
Military Career
In 1935, Kunitsa joined the Red Army. Two years later, he graduated from the 1st Kachinsk Red Banner Military Aviation Pilot School and became a flight instructor. In May 1940, he was appointed political commissar of a squadron in the 69th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Odessa Military District.
World War II
When the Great Patriotic War broke out in June 1941, Kunitsa was on the front lines. He opened his combat account on July 23, by shooting down a German He-111 bomber over the Black Sea. On August 1, he shot down a Me-109 fighter while defending fellow pilot A. YeloKhin.
Kunitsa made a significant contribution to the defense of Odessa, carrying out 107 combat sorties and engaging in 12 aerial battles. He shot down two enemy aircraft personally and two more in group actions.
Heroic Sacrifice
On August 29, 1941, Kunitsa engaged four Me-109s in combat over Odessa. He managed to down one "Messerschmitt" before running out of ammunition. Undeterred, he used his plane to ram a second enemy aircraft, destroying it. Kunitsa ejected from his damaged fighter but was killed in the air.
Legacy
Kunitsa's body was buried on the spot where he fell by the soldiers of the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division. In November 1941, the Southern Front's military council awarded him the Order of Lenin posthumously for his heroism. On February 10, 1942, he was posthumously given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Kunitsa's memory lives on through the Great War Alley of Glory in Odessa and the Velykyy Khutir secondary school and streets in both his hometown and Odessa. His name is also inscribed on a marble plaque near the Odessa Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet.
